Penny Wong and Donald Trump: the cerebral, cautious champion of Labor’s left and the brash real estate tycoon turned Republican hero. It hardly sounds like a match made in political heaven. Yet there was Australia’s foreign minister, in prime position at Trump’s inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda, seated next to his elder sister, Elizabeth Trump Grau.

Wong stood out in a crowd dominated by leading figures from the global right. Former British prime minister Boris Johnson was there instead of the UK’s current leader, Labour’s Keir Starmer, who didn’t score an invitation. Argentinian President Javier Milei and Italian leader Giorgia Meloni, both populist conservatives, were there too.

Penny Wong joined foreign ministers from the Quad to represent Australia at Donald Trump’s inauguration.Credit: Twitter X

Wong, one of only a handful of foreign dignitaries in the room, received a golden ticket to the event despite the crowd size being dramatically cut back when the inauguration was moved indoors because of freezing temperatures. Countries with far bigger populations and economies than Australia’s – such as France and Germany – didn’t make the cut.

It was “such a privilege and honour to be........

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